NORWICH, CT – Future Kansas State Wildcat, Jack Quetschbach, got his first multi-hit game, but the Westfield Starfires lost 6-1 to the Norwich Sea Unicorns on Saturday night at Dodd Stadium.
The Starfires head into Sunday with an 8-24-2 record. The Sea Unicorns have won four of their past five but still stand half a game outside the playoff picture with a 15-17-0 record.
It was a pitcher’s duel early in Norwich, with neither team getting on the scoreboard through the first third of the game. The Starfires got hits from Iona’s Cole Silvia and Quetschbach in the first, but were unable to convert, going scoreless early against Norwich hurler Matt Wootton.
On the other side of the ball, Columbia Lion Brendan Murphy got into some trouble in the second inning by loading the bases, but the Floridian escaped the jam with a strikeout, and he too did not concede a run through three.
Norwich got going in the bottom of the fourth with a walk, an error, and a single, scoring the game’s first run. Another run came across on a sacrifice fly, but immediately after, an outfield assist from Brown’s Alex Benevento got Joe Durso out at the plate, trying to score from second on a single to left, which limited Norwich to just two runs.
In the top of the fifth, Columbia Lion Jimmy Chadwell doubled for the first Starfires’ first extra base hit, and then Worcester State Lancer Riggs Catlin singled into right field for a base hit in his Starfires debut. However, the Sea Unicorns were then the ones to throw a runner out at home with Chadwell getting gunned down by Jack Sweeney in right field, and Westfield was left off the scoreboard in the frame.
Stonehill’s Tanyon Weber tossed the fifth and sixth innings without allowing a base runner, but things fell apart in the seventh inning for the Starfires.
The Sea Unicorns sent eight batters to the plate off of three hits and a walk, while the Starfires also aided them with a couple of errors. Norwich tripled their lead to 6-0, scoring four unearned runs in the inning.
As the Starfires went into their final inning still trailing 6-0, Northwestern’s Griffin Mills began in the ninth with a walk. After an out, North Florida’s Seth Alford chopped a ball just over the pitcher’s mound for an infield single.
Then, Benevento laced a single into left field, scoring Mills as the Starfires avoided the shutout with a two-out base hit in the ninth from the Starfires’ left fielder. This was all the road team could muster, though, as a flyball to center field on the very next pitch ended the game with a 6-1 victory for Norwich.
Quetschenbach ended the day 2-for-4 with a couple of singles, while Benevento was also 2-for-4 with an RBI and his outfield assist in the fourth. Backstop Catlin started his Starfires career by reaching base twice with a walk and a single on the night.
The Starfires will look to finish the week with a win as they will head back up to Burlington to play the Vermont Lake Monsters at Centennial Field on Sunday, with a 5:05 p.m. start time.
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